First Doily Finished

My first doily!

It's not bad as a first project. But I still have to figure out the proper tension. It's very tight in certain areas but loose in others. I still have to block it (trying to find something to use as a blocking board), so maybe it will be better after. I actually finished last week but then I got sick. The flu season has started and just in time for the first fall of snow here.

Another piece of news, my new crochet hooks are here :) but they didn't get here till AFTER I finished the doily.

I've already started using them on my next project, this time it will be an oval doily, and the hooks are awesome. There is such a huge difference in grip between these and the cheap steel hook I bought at Wallmart. If you are interested in these hooks, there is an ebay seller arpat_yarn, who has them in stock. Look for them under Japan Hamanaka Crochet Hooks. Believe me they are worth every penny.

Not so new craft

For a while now I've had this craving to crochet again, but I didn't want to make amigurumis or even work with wool yarn. What I really wanted to try is crocheting with thread. Unfortunately I didn't have the thread or the hooks to do so. I spent a lot of time googling, looking at different styles, like doilies and fillet crochet, and discovered some new crafts I never knew about like "Bobbin Lace" (google it and look at the pictures, it's mind boggling).

Last week, I told myself enough waiting and ordered the set of lace hooks by Hamanaka. I already own the other set and LOVE them. But by Thursday they still hadn't come in and I got impatient.

After 10 minutes at Walmart, I came out with a simple steel hook and a huge ball of Aunt Lydia's thread:

3 days and 2 restarts later, I had this doily almost done. I'm reading off a Japanese chart and the great thing about it is that from the pattern you can clearly see what the doily should look like while working on it. While in written charts you have to sit down and decipher every line like its a code (which it is).

Castle in the Air Part 11 AND 12

I finally finished the side border! Now with parts 11 and 12 over with, I'm hoping Castle in the Sky will stay at the top of the pile.

And here's an overview:

Next up are the bottom left and right corner.

Late Update

I worked a little on Ichigo but forgot to post it. Only the hair is left to do.

My sister has already informed me that she's taking him as soon as he's done, but she would allow me to keep him long enough to "finish" him into a magnet or bookmark (still trying to decide what he'll be).

I thought I would finish him last weekend, but I felt like working on Castle in the Air :) Finally after not touching it for months I feel up to working on it to get past the border. I'm hoping to finish parts 11 AND 12 by this weekend. Of course this means that Ichigo will be mine a little longer ;)

November TUSAL and New Start

Here's my November TUSAL. Doesn't look as impressive as last month.

I also started the Ichigo chibi pattern I mentioned in my last post. This is one weekend's work, it was so fast. Isn't he cute!

Busy as a Bee

I haven't posted anything in a while. Not because I wasn't stitching, I was. It's just that every time I come to stop and do a posting I realize that if I just keep going for a little bit I'll be able to finish the dress, that I'll be able to finish the hair, the skin,... 2 weeks pass by and I still haven't made a post lol.

So here she is, my Stargazer all stitched up. All I have left is the beading.

I did end up stitching the face with 1 thread over 1. And she looks gorgeous like that. Here's a close up:

I am going to try and not start the beading until next month. That way I can try to make some progress on Castle in the Sky and maybe start another very small project. I already picked one out. It's a pattern by Awenmir of Ichigo from the Manga Bleach. She has many other patterns on her site here http://superstitch.110mb.com.

Small Progress

I think I might have overdone it in the past few weeks working on Stargazer, I've been getting neck pains. So last week I decided to slow down a little and didn't cross stitch anything. I decided to use that time to catch up on my reading.

I worked on it a bit on the weekend and it looks like I did a lot but I really didn't. I think filling in the gaps gives the illusion that a lot of stitching had been done.

October TUSAL

I'm trying something new for this TUSAL. I'm going to fill the vase I got from Michaels at the beginning of the TUSAL and when I have to start the next round I'll empty it into the jar. This way I'll be better able to see how much work I've done.

It looks like I've done a lot of work but don't be fooled. A lot of the thread at the bottom were frogged from when I mixed up DMC 931 with 930.

Dessins Isadarena

I've been following a cross-stitcher from France named Isabelle and I always love her blog because its so pretty and feminine. She is actually the reason why I have Chatelaine designs on my wishlist. After seeing her progress and how beautiful they come out I just had to add them.

Isabelle also designs very beautiful patterns based on old french "broderie au filet". I ended up buying 3 of them and she gave me an extra one as a gift (Patins d'Argent). My favorite is Le Cerisier. I can just see it as a cushion.

Merci Isabelle pour vos merveilleux dessins! Je vais avoir beaucoup de plaisir a les brode

Le Cerisier

Tendre Amitie

La Serenade

Patins D'Argent

I also worked on Stargazer all of last week. Here's an update picture:

Canadian Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend so I took advantage of the long weekend to work on Stargazer. I made a lot of progress.

Castle in the Air Part 10

Two updates in one day :) After looking at my logs, this is the shortest one so far. Only 5.25 hours!

An overview of what it looks like now.

Now the next two parts (11 & 12) are repeats of parts 8 and 9 but inverted. Not very inspiring but if I want to get to the good stuff I have to get through these.

Post DMC 930 & 931

After last week-end's disaster I never ended up posting an update on Stargazer.

Last Friday (not the one that just passed, but the one before that) after realizing my mistake, I stayed up late removing all the stitches. I refused to go sleep knowing that the mistake was there and I wanted to start with a clean slate the next day.

So here's what the area looks like after the clean up. Not too bad and whatever you can see will get covered up eventually.

Saturday I redid all I had originally undone, this time in the right color. It actually went faster because you could clearly see a hole where the stitch is supposed to go, so I had less counting to do :P The picture below is my progress up till last Thursday.

I will go back to working on it once I'm done with Castle in the Air part 10, which is almost done :)

Castle in the Air Part 9

It's been awhile since I worked on Castle in the Air. Finally sat down at my desk and worked on part 9. I was determined to get this part done. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do this part 8 and 9 again, but I will persevere :)

An overview of what's done so far.

DMC 930 & 931

Where's a boo-boo stick when you need one. Just when I finished stitching one side of the dress in DMC 930, I realized I was supposed to use 931 :(

Sigh! I did all this while I wasn't feeling well. That will teach me to stitch when I'm not up to par. What a waste of thread. I hope it doesn't affect the fabric when I remove all of it.

Objects may be smaller than they appear!

Now that's an understatement.

In preparation for the beading on Stargazer, I wanted to get some Nymo threads. I heard the size 00 was really good so I went to eBay to see if I could find a good deal. I found a seller selling two bobbins for $2.52, which I figured was a good price and the bobbins looked big enough that I'd have enough for Stargazer and maybe another project. Boy did I have it wrong.

Here is an image of what I ordered:

And here's what I received yesterday:

The spools are so tiny lol. I just hope I have enough at least to bead Stargazer. It would be horrible if I run out halfway though the project.

P.S. I don't blame the seller in any way. She was very helpful when I contacted her with questions and the shipment came to my house very fast, so I will probably order from her again despite this little surprise.

Old And New

We went to a flea market on Saturday (for those who live in the Montreal area its Finnegan's Market). I went there with a few things in mind to look out for: a new ORT container and some porcelain bowls to use when I am beading.

I had a great find at one stall. I bought the bowls for $10, there are 5 total. My favorite is the blue one in the middle. Another stall was selling a huge assortment of tin cans. They had so many different cute ones that I had to get myself one. Although I have no idea what I'll put in it lol. This one cost me $4.

With these, I was still missing a new ORT container.

Luckily, on our way back I spotted one of the new Michael's stores that opened in Quebec. So we had to stop there and check it out. They have a HUGE selection and the prices are either too high or too low. It depends on what you're into. The one thing I did notice is that DMC threads are $0.49 there (versus the $0.89 everywhere else).

I didn't really shop with a specific project in mind, as I was wholly unprepared, but I did find a new ORT vase. I also found a SMASH book (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFsArr4Z1s), I've been wanting one for a while, and some cute buttons.

Here's a close up of the buttons

I did end up continuing working on Stargazer all last week and the weekend. Here's an update picture:

September TUSAL

My September TUSAL. It has the thread from Stretch and Stargazer. Much better than my last TUSAL :)

Stargazer Update

Now I know why so many cross stitchers work on Mirabilia projects exclusively. They are so addictive. I worked on it all weekend and every time I put it aside I wanted to go back to it. Now, I was supposed to stop stitching on it and go back to Castle in the Air, but I don't think I'll be doing that :P

Update 2012/09/11: I stumbled on Veronica's version of Stargazer and she had stitched the skin with 1 thread over 1. The effect is stunning and I will definitely have to do the same. I also found this link with pattern corrections The Stargazer Corrections.

New Start

I've been planning this project for forever. I found this pattern two years ago and its been in the back of my head, that if I ever do a Mirabilia it would be Stargazer. Well, during my trip in San Francisco (in May) I went to http://www.needlestack.com/ and asked the sales lady to help me kit Stargazer and Tree of Hope. Unfortunately she didn't have the pattern for Stargazer, but we did find the list of beads required so I asked her to pull those out for me and I decided since I was there I would pick out the fabric as well.

A few months later, I managed to gather all the threads that I needed and noticed that the fabric, which was gorgeous, and the threads didn't really match :(

So I went to eBay to see if I can find another fabric and discovered this seller hshneedlecrafts. She has a very good selection of fabric and if its not in her store, you can send her a message for a special order. The fabric is a 28ct Hand-Dyed Cashel Linen called cameo. It's kind of plain but I feel it will suit the pattern better. I will keep the other fabric for one of Mirabilia's mermaid patterns.

I worked on it for a few minutes yesterday. The fabric is very nice to the touch.

Castle in the Air Part 8

Second update in a row! This one was fast and repetitive. Almost stopped a few times, but I kept telling myself one more and then I'll stop. Next thing I knew it was complete lol.

Here's an overview of what it looks like with what is already done. Part 9 is essentially the same thing on the other side but with a few minor changes.

Stretch the Magic Dragon

My second finish on this blog :) I just finished him this morning and wanted to share it.

Here are some more detailed pictures:

In the end I decided to backstitch only the dragon with the metallic thread, which by the way gave me as hard a time as the kreinik does but the end result is so pretty that I can't hate it completely. The border was backstitched with the DMC thread from the pattern.

I had fun making this, so I can safely say that the experiment was a success and that I WILL be doing more Teresa Wenztler projects. Although I do want to improve my stitches. I noticed while backstitching that some of my stitches were not perfectly taut and they were sometimes too loose. Not sure what is doing that but I will have to be more careful in the future.

Now all I have to decide is what to do with it. It's too big to become a bookmark but too small to frame. I'll just have to put it aside for now.

Fastest Finish Ever!!

Well almost :) I spent the weekend working on TW's Stretch. I just couldn't put it down once I started on the dragon. The color blends were so beautiful. All I kept thinking was: "This color is so pretty. I would never have put these two together." lol.

So here it is.

Last week I mentioned that quarter stitches were slowing me down, but once i got the hang of it, it got easy. My only worry was missing them by accident because they are so small on the pattern. I will upload more detailed images once the backstitch is finished.

Speaking of backstitch, the colors used in the pattern are regular DMC cotton thread. But I wanted to add more "fire" to mine. So I went out on Saturday and got some sparkle. These are DMC Light Effects. I've only used Kreinik so far, which is a pain to work with sometimes, so I'm kind of worried about using these. The colors are not exact, so I'll see how it comes out. By the way, ignore the last one on the right. I just couldn't stop myself from getting it. It's so pretty.